Shooting from the Hip

I was asked my opinion on guns earlier today. I normally don't talk about things that bring on heated debates, but I decided to make an exception just this once.

If people want to have a gun in their house or apartment for protection, that's their business.  But I am not among that group. I won't have a handgun, rifle, or any other weapon of calibered destruction in my home. I do not have what it takes to own and use one and I'm not sure every person who does owns one, especially those who carry a concealed weapon practically 24/7/365, truly comprehend all the implications of doing so.
They say if you aim a weapon, you should be prepared to fire it and if you're prepared to fire it, you should be prepared to kill with it. That's the thing. Everything changes when you pull the trigger and the person you aim at, whether they deserve it or not, dies. You have just become judge, jury and executioner in your decision and sometimes it's in the split-second. You can say they deserved it and justify it to yourself and others by whatever means. But, you just took a life and there is no taking it back. People say they can live with that, but I don't think as many who claim they can really can.

There is no amount of firewalling that will consistently keep weapons out of the hands of criminals who acquire them by any means, and also the hands of those of questionable mental health status when acting "normal" until you don't have to can be just that easy. Proponents say that the answer is to arm yourself, to create your own little detente with the rest of the world. But when the others you bear arms against are criminals and people of questionable sanity who also bear arms, somebody's going to fire first and it may not be you.

There is no simple answer to this problem in a land which has the right to bear arms written into its bill of rights. Yes, I'd like to see some tougher and better enforced gun control laws. The small arms proliferation in this country scares me. I don't want to take away anyone's rights, I just want to know that guns are in the hands of people who are really responsible for and with them 100% of the time and if that means that not everybody who wants to gets to carry a gun, so be it.

You can call me a dove, a peace monger, a tree-huggin' hippie. I will bear those labels with honor when it comes to my stance on this topic. Just don't mistake it for someone who won't fight back, 'cause I have and I will and I'm great at improvisation.